Netflix to debut cheaper ad-supported subscription in November

Netflix has announced that a new, more affordable subscription option will be available from November, as the company looks to stem the outflow of subscribers experienced in recent months.

The cheaper offering will include adverts, a first for the streaming giant. It says that viewers can expect four to five minutes of 15 to 30-second ads for every hour of content, though it specified that this is “at launch”, leaving the door open to future developments.

Until recently, Netflix was the world’s top subscription-based content provider. Disney+ took its crown in August. Netflix lost over a million subscribers in the first half of 2022, although this was partly a result of its pulling out of the Russian market.

The ad-supported option is being initially rolled out in 12 countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Germany and Japan. The service will not be available in Malta for the time being.

“We’re confident that … we now have a price and plan for every fan,” the company said in a press release.

“While it’s still very early days, we’re pleased with the interest from both consumers and the advertising community and couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead.”

Basic with Ads will cost £4.99 a month in the UK (as opposed to £4.99 for the basic ad-free service), and $6.99 in the US.

Netflix is not alone in making the move. Disney, for example, will introduce a similar service in December, expected to cost $7.99 a month in the US.

The new offering may prove worthwhile to investors in the company who have seen its stock price falter over the last months. Netflix’s president of worldwide advertising, Jeremi Gorman, indicated that it has almost sold out all the available ad time, a sign of the interest from advertisers in reaching younger audiences.